System Event Notification Service Not Starting On Windows

Posted by on February 15, 2009 Leave a comment (161) Go to comments

Ok I was woke up this morning by my better half saying that the computer was taking ages to log in and when it did it was popping up error messages. The main error message/problem was:

Failed to connect to a windows service

Windows could not connect to the System Event Notification Service service. This problem prevents limited users from logging on to the system. As an administrative user, you can review the System Event Log for details about why the service didn’t respond.”

So I booted up the laptop and began Googling for fixes. Searching for “failed to connect to a windows service” returns a ridiculous amount of results. I found multiple fixes (changing Remote Registry setting, manually setting network IP addres etc), none of which sorted my problem out 😥

Anyway I finally found a solution that worked (for me anyway).

Firstly we need to run the Command prompt with administrator privledges if on Vista/Windows 7 or be logged in as an Administrator on XP.

  1. Click Start then click on All Programs
  2. Now click on Accessories
  3. Right click on Command Prompt and select ‘Run as administrator‘.

or

  1. Click Start then click Computer (or open it from your desktop if thats where it is).
  2. Go to your C drive (or whatever drive you have Windows installed on)
  3. Open up the Windows folder
  4. Find and open the System32 folder.
  5. Find the file cmd (might be shows as cmd.exe).
  6. Right click on it and select ‘Run as administrator‘.

Once the command prompt window opens type ‘NETSH WINSOCK RESET CATALOG‘ and press the Enter/Return key.

It then says you have to reboot and after that my computer was working fine 😀 no more “failed to connect to a windows service”

Now I’m not saying this will work for you but it definitely fixed my problem.

<update> A friend of mine has written a small program that should do the fix for you. You can download it here.

Computers
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161 Comments.

  1. Steven January 14, 2011 at 03:56

    THANK YOU SO MUCH! iwill buy a pint if your ever in DUBLIN IRELAND THANK YOU SO MUCH!

    Reply
  2. Harold January 31, 2011 at 23:28

    I’m having this same error message on my acer aspire 5534 laptop in which I have to start in “safe mode” or it will crash. I’ve tried the troubleshooting/system and security/fix problems and windows updates but I keep getting prompt to reboot my computer to exit safe mode.

    “Network Diagnostics cannot be run in safe mode”.

    I can not run my laptop in windows mode or access the internet.

    It all started when I updated a wifi driver. My laptop’s manufacturer offered no support help all.

    Someone PLEASE help me!!!

    Reply
  3. billy john February 19, 2011 at 02:44

    thanks alot… it relly works… thanks you computer saver.

    Reply
  4. BigPobs March 15, 2011 at 20:09

    Let me join the many grateful people to thank you for helping. It may well be worth either posting a hyperlink on many of the other websites/forums that appear on the first page of googles answer to “System Event Notification Service service” or just post your solution there.

    Anyhoos, big up dude…. all credit due…

    Reply
  5. Ryan March 30, 2011 at 08:06

    OH MY GOODNESS THANK YOU SO MUCH, HAVENT USED THIS COMPUTER IN OVER A YEAR BECAUSE OF THAT ERROR! yay!

    Reply
  6. Sairam March 30, 2011 at 22:27

    Many many many thanks.Me n my hubby were breaking our heads for 3 hours.Our computer is saved..Thanks a lot..

    Reply
  7. Alee March 31, 2011 at 04:24

    Omg it worked thank u so much

    Reply
  8. Tom Hastings April 4, 2011 at 21:33

    Cheers for sharing the fix, very clear instructions, worked for me!

    Reply
  9. viki April 5, 2011 at 04:51

    thanks you! thank you! thank you!
    after reading complicated instructions, solutions and feeling utterly lost, your solution was like a breath of fresh air;)
    needless to say, it worked for me too…

    Reply
  10. Nigel Wain April 11, 2011 at 16:20

    Brilliant – it worked for me too: I have an Acer Aspire 5920 and thought the kids had been on and messed it up for good!

    Reply
  11. Bla-J April 22, 2011 at 00:22

    Gud stuff buddy! Simple and straight foward instructions and the problem was fixed!

    Reply
  12. Safrot April 29, 2011 at 01:30

    Wow, that was a brilliant peice of information. Worked like magic on my HP laptop that the computer tech shop qouted me an astronomical figure to fix. Msny thanks mate.

    Reply
  13. Ralph April 29, 2011 at 12:32

    Like, I guess, 99.9% of the people that have used this fix, I have absolutely no idea what it did – but it did fix it. Thanks

    Reply
  14. micgohch May 8, 2011 at 08:09

    Thanks. i got the System Event Notification Service service Not found (window vista) problem after my friend installed a mobile router to my laptop.

    The above problem was solved after i run the above mentioned steps.

    Reply
  15. bruno May 29, 2011 at 11:10

    thank you! thank you! at last! my computer run as normal, no more that popping annoying error message! thanks you million times! you’re my computer’s savior!

    Reply
  16. kristy June 7, 2011 at 22:43

    you have saved me a fortune getting ripped if i took my laptop to a shop, you should open your own buisness, your a star can’t thank you enough thanks, i’ve got windows 7 and it now works again THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  17. erika June 8, 2011 at 03:03

    Thank you so much for this information!:) it helped a lot!:)

    Reply
  18. Emile June 23, 2011 at 09:37

    Thanks. This saved me lots of time.

    Reply
  19. Kukin June 26, 2011 at 11:27

    Brilliant!! Thank you very much. I have almost gave up the hope to bring my computer back to life after the power outage. But now it works!

    Reply
  20. Matty July 6, 2011 at 09:51

    It’s so refreshing to find someone that genuinely wants to help others. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge with us. THANKS 🙂

    Reply
  21. Mark July 18, 2011 at 13:23

    Well that was a nice easy fix! Thanks so much for sharing it, you are a true star 😀

    Reply
  22. Alton July 21, 2011 at 22:44

    😛 Thank you very much. This saved me hours of work and my granddaughter will be extremely happy to see she can now talk to her friends on facebook while visiting us.

    Reply
  23. Axisofroost July 25, 2011 at 23:44

    Thankyou so very much…I have been struggling to get my laptop to work for a month and this fixed it 😎

    Reply
  24. Taylor August 16, 2011 at 23:34

    Thanks soooooooo much!!!! I just started classes today and my computer had this error, you saved me like $50 that I can put towards books now 😀

    Reply
  25. dartera August 21, 2011 at 10:11

    Thank You.. really appreciate.. hope to have more people like your good self out in the internet!! If u need anything just ask!! if any one of us can give i am sure we will gladly to so.
    Rgds

    Reply
  26. ganga August 23, 2011 at 14:47

    Thank You…so much.this is a very easy fix,it worked for me.saved my pc… 😎

    Reply
  27. zairul August 24, 2011 at 08:53

    thank you very 2 much,,,,,,,,,,,i have this problem,,,you help me,,,,,,,,,,you are nice,,,,thanks again,,,,,,,,,yaaaayyyyy i can play internet now

    Reply
  28. Kalu September 10, 2011 at 10:45

    Thanks a lot for the tip. It fixed my Problem….

    Reply
  29. exel September 25, 2011 at 20:33

    you are my new best friend dude, thank you

    Reply
  30. Vosblod October 13, 2011 at 13:36

    Just a note to say thanks for the fix. Problem solved

    Reply
  31. SKB October 18, 2011 at 08:20

    It has solved my problem.Thanks a lot.

    Reply
  32. Malena October 21, 2011 at 04:43

    You are FANTASTIC for taking the time to post this fix. I was on the verge of buying a new computer. May the cyberdeities bless you with a lifetime of good computer karma for this! 😛

    Reply
  33. candyfrost October 21, 2011 at 12:37

    omg, thank you so much for this! it was a life saver…. and it would save me the trouble to deal with my brother about this. lol anyways, thank you once again, i’m so glad you’ve shared this with us all and that it worked for me. greatly appreciate it. =]

    Reply
  34. Vibol SAN November 11, 2011 at 03:55

    Dear Carbonize,
    I am facing the same proble Failed to connect to a windows service

    I have tried to follow your steps but it didn’t work. When enter netsh winsock reset catalog, It shows Initialization Function InitHelperDll in NSHHTTP.DLL failed to start with error code 11003.
    What should I do?
    I need your help. Thank you in advance!!

    safe mode with command prompt

    Reply
  35. Mayank November 25, 2011 at 18:14

    Dear friend,
    try sfc /scannow
    also,
    Try re-registering the dll,,,
    regsvr32 NSHHTTP.DLL
    before you issue
    NETSH WINSOCK RESET CATALOG
    hope that helps…

    -Mayank V.
    Adminisstrator UNIX / Windows..

    Reply
  36. robert hughes December 2, 2011 at 11:17

    to carbonize

    what a lifesaver. you deserve some of the money that goes to the greedy Microsoft !! 😆

    Reply
  37. Annelie Rangefelt January 2, 2012 at 18:06

    Thanks!
    This solved my problem!
    And saved my money!

    Reply
  38. Cuddlebug January 11, 2012 at 22:09

    😛 you know i called hp and they told me to use my start up discs, but didn’t want to go there until i was sure. 2 hrs on the phone with hp and they had no clue, 15 min on line, till i found your post perfect!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

    Reply
  39. Bin January 13, 2012 at 01:13

    Thanks Carbonize! You deserve a medal for helping us all out here…just saved me a great deal of pain. THANK YOU!!!

    Reply
  40. Danco January 16, 2012 at 10:22

    Thank you for this, made my life a tad easier 🙂

    Reply
  41. Steeler January 25, 2012 at 10:19

    😯 That’s really working! THANK YOU!

    Reply
  42. Kasun March 17, 2012 at 03:37

    Thank you soooooo much!
    Your solution worked like a miracle.

    Reply
  43. Srikanth March 25, 2012 at 03:31

    Thanks a lot. It worked!!!

    Reply
  44. Aido March 26, 2012 at 18:15

    Worked like a charm, your an absolute lifesaver!! Many thanks!! 😀

    Reply
  45. David Raeburn April 3, 2012 at 09:22

    😀 Nice one!

    The first fix for this issue that actually worked!

    Reply
  46. motowngirl April 30, 2012 at 23:26

    Has anyone had the failure to connect to system event notification service error message after installing Windows Updates, specifically KB2564958 and KB2654428? Does Carbonize’s fix work after installing updates?

    Reply
  47. Kennydinero May 2, 2012 at 15:36

    Thank you very much. It worked instantly

    Reply
  48. Malco47 May 7, 2012 at 01:31

    I was just about to reload Vista when I came across this blog. It worked OK.
    Thanks, you saved me from hours of torture

    Reply
  49. deepak May 17, 2012 at 21:30

    thank u soo…much dear, i was in trouble since last two days, my old Antivirus made this change (spyware doctor), don’t use it. But now my system is working. THANK U SO MUCH AGAIN…

    Reply
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